THE POWER OF ENCOURAGEMENT

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

// Hebrews 6:10

Hebrews 6:10 tells us that God does not overlook our work and the love we have shown in serving fellow believers (the saints, the church). To me, this is quite extraordinary. The God of the universe sees our task, no matter how seemingly small or menial, done with a pure heart to serve. He does not overlook it, He values it. He proactively looks to the love we walk in, with an eye to reward us – He cannot overlook what He is looking for!

We as humans are imperfect in life. We often overlook things and miss the mark; we can also often highly esteem and value things that are actually not that valuable, and vice versa – we can easily get it all mixed up and backwards! But our God is not like us in that way. His love is so pure and strong that He sees, notices, values and esteems your pure heart to serve Him and others, even in the seemingly small things.

This is the love that we are called to walk in. What God values, we too should learn to value in life. What ‘good work done in love’ can you and I foster, encourage and build up in the people around us? It is my firm belief that we should never underestimate the impact and power of encouragement. To build courage in someone else is to ‘encourage.’ Hebrews 10:24 says, “let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.” Consider how and then do it. I don’t know about you, but nothing spurs me on more than someone genuinely believing in me – a word of encouragement goes a long way! Let’s be people who consider how to encourage others and then do it, because in this way we are extending the grace and love of Christ that has so graciously been given to us, glorifying our Father in Heaven and building up the body. Spread the love!